About me

Meina Zhu

Meina Zhu is an Assistant Professor in the Learning Design and Technology program in the College of Education at Wayne State University. I received my Ph.D. degree in the Instructional Systems Technology program at Indiana University Bloomington.

My scholarship is situated in the fields of Learning Design and Technology. I am dedicated to investigating how technology can be harnessed to enhance teaching and learning and address important issues and challenges in education. In general, my scholarship focuses on two interrelated areas: (1) understanding and identifying the design and teaching practices for self-directed learning (SDL)/self-regulated learning (SRL) in both formal education and informal education settings; and (2) leveraging emerging learning technologies, such as learning analytics, serious games, and artificial intelligence (AI), to enhance STEM education especially CS education.

My scholarly efforts have resulted in more than 50 peer-reviewed journal publications (including top-tier journals, such as Educational Technology Research and Development, British Journal of Educational Technology, The Internet and Higher Education and Distance Education), one book, three book chapters, and seven proceedings articles. Due to these contributions to the field, I have received the Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning (TICL) SIG, in 2021, the Rising Star Award (Gold level) from the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) in 2023, and Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Bruce N. Chaloux Scholarship for Early Career Excellence award in 2023. She is on the prestigious list of the World’s Top 2% Scientists published by Stanford University for Year 2023.

I am recruiting Ph.D. students at Wayne State University. Prospective students could explore my Research Page and Google Scholar to see the alignment of the research interests.